Parkinson’s News Forums › Forums › Living With Parkinson’s › Long-term disability
Tagged: career, disability, insurance, Parkinson's Disease, retirement, work
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Long-term disability
Posted by Ally on March 2, 2021 at 8:15 pmDid you have to stop working earlier than planned because of Parkinson’s? Were you able to take early retirement or claim long-term disability insurance? Did you encounter any problems or barriers in this process? Do you have any advice for other people with Parkinson’s who may be considering this decision as well?
John Citron replied 2 years, 9 months ago 6 Members · 6 Replies -
6 Replies
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I retired early at the age of 60. I was still able to perform my work well, but was finding the physical reaction to stress to be troubling, and I did not wish to demonstrate a decline in my work quality at some time in the near future. In other words, I wanted to go out at the top of my game. I also wanted to enjoy the best possible years of retirement before my symptoms advanced (wasn’t planning on COVID!). My father, who developed PD at the same age as me, chose to work to 63, and in my judgement he cheated himself out of some good retirement time. I did not even investigate the possibility of tapping into long term disability insurance, as I believed this scenario would not qualify. I live in Ontario, Canada.
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Anyone else have thoughts on LTD. I find myself in Mr Hill’s position.
thanks
M
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My husband used his LTD policy in 2006 when he could no longer work as a computer programmer. We had a policy that paid out if he could no longer do his principal job. The foresight to have gotten that policy in the 1980s saved us so that he had an income stream. He also got Disability through Social Security.
He was 54 when he started receiving both. The LTD policy ended payouts when he turned 65. Social Security disability changed to retirement payouts when he turned 65.
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Approvals for private insurance LTD and early SS disability were lengthy battles. My MDS and my EHR were at an academic center where students do most of the typing…. The students wanted to show patient improvement and highlight what I ‘could do.’ Students did not want to give a negative eval to their professor and none of the parties wanted to discuss the hard truths [PD prognosis] in front of an audience.
The realities of my home life, as presented my wife and by me, were dismissed. Students are taught by viewing convincing video comparisons and if you don’t have that to show your testimony is dismissed. My symptoms were not video-worthy since I am not tremor dominant and my non-motor symptoms are / were the work-related issue.
I finally asked [told] my MDS that we needed to write down all the things I could not and cannot do. We did that and he signed off saying I was not able to [ever] return to work. About one year later my LTD was approved. Private insurance then forces you to apply for early SS after which they subtract your SS check from theirs. Thus they are motivated to help and they provide a legal team to help with SS. Two years later and my SS disability was approved and it pays retro to your initial filing date.
1. If available to you, pay to acquire and upgrade your LTD insurance for a minimum of 12 months in my case [before filing].
2. Request STD. Build your medical history summary file.
3. Determine best time for you to file for SS disability and start the clock ticking. By the way, Medicare eligibility starts one year after disability.
4. STD insurance will hand you off to LTD insurance.
5. LTD insurance may pay you exempt from Federal income tax where as SS disability pay can be taxable, however, the coverage from Medicare may offset your tax increase. And your LTD company may force you to go ahead.
6. Suffer through multiple rejections and cognitive tests until you get a face-to-face hearing with a judge. Let the lawyer do the talking and do not use any multiple syllable words or coherent sentences in front of the judge.
If I tried to have this conversation with you in person, we would both be completely confused – which was the case for me at work – five years ago! And I would have interrupted several times to take meds, and drink lots of water, and go to the bathroom, and go to the bathroom, and to forget what I was talking about. I have no control over my schedule and my memory and my fatigue and …..
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Daniel, My husband had a different experience in that his LTD payout was not affected by his getting SS Disability. He did have to get an attorney to help get the SS Disability since he was rejected the first time. He Paralegal told us almost everyone gets rejected the first time. sh knew a quadriplegic who was turned down the first time!
I don’t know what your acronyms of MDS and EHR stand for.
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I entered into Long Term Disability (LTD) in early 2013 after leaving my full-time job in September 2012. I had “production issues” at work and my boss was going to fire me because of it. I knew then it was time because my IT job required me to be on my toes, figuratively and literally at all times. I was passing out from medication changes, falling, and becoming completely unraveled due to the stress. Supporting close to 700 people daily was stressful normally and I was beyond what I could handle. I suppose closing 350 tickets a month wasn’t good enough for the boss.
So, with much pride eating I entered a new realm. My company, outside of my boss, was very helpful in setting me up initially with short-term disability until the LTD was ready. The insurance company put me in touch with the Advocator Group (recommended bigly!) to assist me with the process, which ended very quickly in 2014 with no hitches at all.
With the LTD, I was able to do quite well initially and relaxed once some glitches were worked out. After a short time, this insurance company did their best to stress me constantly as they asked for updated medical records from my doctor on a monthly basis. The clinic would retrieve the records and charge the insurance company $28 to mail them. This was okay at first.
Then a few months later I received less than the amount I was supposed to because they didn’t get their requested records when requested yet again. I called them when I found out I was shortchanged one check because they were going to cancel the coverage due to broken terms.
To find out why, I called the clinic and spoke with the records department. The very nice young lady there told me that the clinic had the request, but the insurance company had not paid the $28 for the mailing, therefore, they didn’t retrieve them. I then called the insurance company and spoke with a representative there… There was silence on the phone then they hung up! A short time later, I received all my money and not a word was said.
This process continued on and included a visit to a schlock neurologist who made extra cash by taking on insurance clients. He and I talked for 15 minutes, and I went home.
Finally, in early 2016 I received a letter. The insurance company was no longer going to handle LTD and was terminating the coverage. They offered a lump sum payment and after thinking about it I accepted the offer. I took the money and paid my mortgage down more than 50%, paid off all my bills and now I’m nearly debt free 5 years later. I recently refinanced to get some renovations done including bathrooms, roof, and driveway.
I may have less income coming in, but I am less stressed. Every month I had them, there was some issue that had to be taken care of which was stressful to the hilt.
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